In-Depth Look at Steroid Injections: Easing Joint Pain

The human body relies on joints and the surrounding tissue for its mobility and range of movement. A timely steroid injection can help to reduce joint inflammation and alleviate the effects of conditions like arthritis on these crucial areas of the body. If you live in San Antonio and you are seeking elbow pain treatment, knee pain treatment, relief from arthritis, or an alternative to surgery for a condition like hip pain, treatment as simple as a steroid injection could be the answer.

Steroid Injections: What You Need to Know

There are countless surgical treatment alternatives on the market, so as you seek a resolution to your joint pain, it’s important to do your homework. Talk to a medical professional or a doctor and take an in-depth look at steroid injections. Easing joint pain with steroid injections is not to be confused with the anabolic steroid injections used in bodybuilding, and it is a viable option for many people experiencing joint discomfort.

It is important to understand that a steroid injection treats the symptoms of pain and not the primary cause of the pain itself. If you are seeking to alleviate joint discomfort, a pain management injection might be your best chance to reduce swelling without taking a more drastic, invasive approach like surgery. A few of the most common types of steroid injections include:

• Hydrocortisone
• Methylprednisolone
• Triamcinolone

One of the main benefits of choosing steroid injection treatment is that it begins to take effect almost immediately after your body takes in the cortisone. Typically, you will feel a slight flare up of pain and inflammation from the affected area in the 48 hours after the injection. At this point, the inflammation should begin to recede and pain relief will follow soon after, usually anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the injection.

The timetable and the effectiveness of an injection depends upon the severity of your condition. Some steroid injections take just a few hours to attack the pain. These are referred to as ‘short-acting soluble injections’, while others can take up to a full week to really start working on the pain and swelling in the affected area.

There are three main ways in which you can receive a steroid injection for joint pain:

• ‘Intra-muscular’ injection (directly into the muscle)
• ‘Peri-articular’ injection (injection into the soft tissue near the joint)
• ‘Intra-articular’ injection (directly into the inflamed joint)

Side Effects

The amount of steroid injections shots anyone receives in the span of a year are limited due to potential side effects. Mood swings and a rise in blood pressure and blood sugar levels can be byproducts of steroid intake, and some women may experience changes to their period.

Part of a steroid injection’s ability to reduce inflammation may also temporarily reduce your body’s immune system, but for the most part, these side effects are temporary and subside as it starts working on your pain and inflammation.

Our Texas Pain Specialists are Here to Help Manage Your Joint Pain

If you are dealing with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, fibromyalgia, or any other condition associated with joint pain, a steroid injection could be the remedy you are searching for. For more information and an even more thorough and in-depth look at steroid injections and easing joint pain, contact Dr. Martinez and his San Antonio joint pain specialists today.

Dr. Raul Martinez and his team will sit down with you, examine your situation, and provide you with a straightforward and in-depth look at steroid injections. Easing joint pain through injection is all about finding the proper dosage and number of injections to effectively fight your pain. No one is better equipped to handle your joint pain treatment than our experienced staff of Texas pain specialists.

For those who require additional treatment, our services extend far beyond pain management injections. At Texas Pain Specialist, we offer a number of other customizable treatment alternatives, including surgery, minimally invasive nerve blocks, and other non-invasive techniques like regenerative cell therapy and behavioral therapy.

Contact Dr. Raul Martinez and his experienced nurse practitioners today. You can visit us in person at any one of our three San Antonio locations, or fill out a form online and get in touch with us through our website.